The US Army will hold combat training in the Philippines to hone skills as maritime tensions rise

BY JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The U.S. Army is introducing a joint battlefield training in the Philippines to improve combat readiness including by ensuring adequate supply of ammunition and other needs in difficult conditions in tropical jungles and on scattered islands. Maj. Gen. Marcus Evans, commanding general of the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division, told the AP that about 2,000 U.S. and Philippine army forces will join combat drills backed by helicopters and artillery fire against armed adversaries in a jungle setting in the northern Philippines in June. The U.S. has been strengthening military alliances in the Indo-Pacific to better counter China. The moves dovetail with Philippine efforts to shore up its defenses amid disputes with China in the South China Sea.